Commercial Space

Now planned from 2021-23, the transition between the current Ariane 5 and its successor may be complex for Arianespace.

Working through unfunded Space Act Agreements with 17 U.S. companies, NASA has selected 20 space technologies it intends to help advance to enable future activities at destinations spanning from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars.

The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has experienced another cable break, this one to a main cable which gave way late Nov. 6.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine tells Aerospace DAILY the new administration will need "somebody they know and trust."

LOS ANGELES—After a prolonged test preparation campaign, Virgin Galactic aims to conduct the first SpaceShipTwo (SS2) suborbital spaceflight attempt

Rocket Lab is moving closer to potential reuse of its Electron small satellite launch vehicle, with plans to attempt a parachute recovery of the first stage as part of its next mission, the company said on Nov. 5.

Building common ground for space becomes NASA’s political mantra.

Five European countries are now actively exploring or investing in small satellite launch facilities.

Ask the Editors: Traditional OEMs are likely to maintain a large role in the future of space.

Why Honeywell Aerospace’s chief sees a bright future for the industry despite today’s COVID-19 woes.

AE Industrial Partners, a private equity firm with an aerospace and defense focus, is growing its military space business with a new acquisition that serves the Pentagon’s desire to tap into small-form, new-space developments.

NASA’s Tournament Lab, working with social media crowdsourcing platform HeroX, is reaching out for proposals to offload a range of payload types at the Moon in support of the bold vision of developing a sustained human lunar presence this decade.

An enlarged second stage would have two engines and more propellant. Much more payload space can be provided.

The mission carried nine Earth-imaging SuperDove cubesats for Planet and a tech demo for Canon Electronics.

As Virgin Galactic enters final preparations for the first rocket-powered flight of SpaceShipTwo from its Spaceport America operational facility in New Mexico, the company has added two additional pilots to its ranks.

A 15th batch of Starlink satellites reached orbit on Oct. 24, SpaceX’s second launch within a week to build up an initial 1,450-member broadband communications network.

The U.S. Space Force has not closed the door on helping industry fund a “manufacturing on orbit” concept, meaning building parts for satellites while in space, according to the service’s acquisition executive.

Lockheed Martin has shifted its small satellite launch plans from mainland Northern Scotland to a site in the Shetland Islands.

Stratospheric cell mast; Heaviside favors elegance; Pipistrel picks Honeywell; Volansi flies vaccines; Iris enables BVLOS.

Ask the Editors: Three former NASA administrators agree the U.S. space program needs to use nuclear propulsion.

NASA recently conducted certification baseline reviews of the three U.S. companies vying to make landers that will transport astronauts to the Moon by 2024—Blue Origin, Dynetics and SpaceX.

Firefly Aerospace, which plans to debut its Alpha small satellite launch vehicle this year, has signed contracts with Spire Global and Geometric Space Corp. for multiple flights.

NASA and the European Space Agency have signed contracts with privately owned Nanoracks to use the company’s Bishop airlock, which is due to be delivered to the International Space Station next month.

Satellite network operators Inmarsat and Hughes Network Systems announced a “strategic collaboration” on Oct. 20 to provide in-flight connectivity designed for commercial airlines in North America.

With the arrival of 60 more Starlink satellites into orbit on Oct. 18 and another 60 due to launch this week, SpaceX intends to roll out public trials of its high-speed internet service before year’s end.